Yellowtail at NPH Entrance

[Dark_Knight_9C1]

9/11 7:30 AM, 3.6 peak high tide. I was fishing off the end of the CDM side jetty at NPH. Just caught s fresh Mac and thru it out and let it set. Got a good pull and then dropped. Waited a few seconds and away it went. I was fishing for batrays but this one felt different. A few jerks and some waving pulls. It pulled out about 100 yards of line before I turned it around. Walked it back and forth on the jetty for about 15 minutes and finally saw it. It wasn't a batray. Looked more like a shark. Kept playing it and got a photo of it going by. It was a yellowtail. To make a long story short I wore it out but couldn't get it up on the jetty to grab it. Finall ended up straightening the hook as I was dragging it across the rocks.
I sure wish I was on my Yak.

[blitzburgh]

Whaaaaaat!?!? That's rad!

[Ro12]

Dude
That's awesome

[summers in kuwait]

Nice write up and a pic to prove it!

[DanaPT]

Now that is timely, what kind of hooks (owner , mustad, somethingelse? )

that is unfortunate that the hook did that to you. That fish looks big.

[rossman]

Simply incredible!

[onetriphudson]

Thats awesome! If that was me I'd be in the water and grabbing that thing by the gills.

[alanw]

Dang, that's one of those losses that you never forget.

[octico]

I have a feeling NPH is going to pretty popular this weekend!

[jbl_91762]

Nice pic. Been fishing NPH for months with no YT so that's a rare one for sure. Maybe this Sunday I'll have the right stuff!

[octico]

Originally Posted by jbl_91762

Nice pic. Been fishing NPH for months with no YT so that's a rare one for sure. Maybe this Sunday I'll have the right stuff!

I have been fishing NPH for years, and it's rare to see YT out there. A couple of years ago two were caught at the bait barge.

[joefish808]

Dark Knight, about how big would u say the YT was? I've been fishing Newport for some time, too, and have caught plenty of bones, small YT near the pipe.
Good post

[Aaron&Julie]

Originally Posted by onetriphudson

Thats awesome! If that was me I'd be in the water and grabbing that thing by the gills.

I'd have probably joined him in jumping in. A couple of things incredible about that, that the yellow hit a wire leader. True, they're not as line shy as tuna, but still...
Also, seeing that style hook bent. It looks pretty strong and if you were fishing bat rays with whole mackerel, I imagine you'd pick out strong hooks.
Targeting bat rays like you were, I'd have thought you would use squid or cut mackerel for bait, not whole live mackerel, I've never heard of that bait usage for bat rays before your post.
Just my own estimate judging by your photo and the spacing of the fins and tail size, I'd guess 20lbs or more, but it is rather hard to tell.
You don't photo shop do you?

[Dark_Knight_9C1]

I was using 4/0 light circle hooks

I bent the hook pulling on the line to drag it up onto the rocks. I use these for 90 lb batrays. Haven't had one bend yet. Of course I haven't tried to lift or slide one up onto the rocks either. For large bats, I end up cutting the line. There is no way to bring them on the rocks at 50 lbs plus.
I actually have the drag figured out now. I've broken off many a big fish and have gone all the way up to 80 lb braid and cable leaders. I've only broken the 80 lb braid once on a thrasher. Have since worked with a looser drag and just let the fish pull as much line as it wants until it wears itself out. The yellowtail was pretty much just laying there. The rocks on the jetty are covered in moss and are extremely slippery. So I wasn't ready to risk falling in for the fish. I wished I would have been able to take a picture but I was too busy trying to keep my braid off the rocks and get it up.
The yellow tail was maybe 4 feet. At first I thought it was a big leopard shark. I could have easily fit my hand inside its mouth. Was probably 9" across at the gills. Was in the 30 lb range. Based on my 12 foot surf pole lifting 15 lbs and being doubled over. (Yes, I actually tested it to be able to better set the drag.) I could only get about a thrird of the fish out of the water.
Caught the yellowtail on a live mac, skinny one about 8". Used a Carolina rig, 4 ounce egg sinker and had doubled 60 lb cable as leader. I was fishing straight out off the end of the jetty. I have almost never got skunked there. There are always at least some willing macs or bass.
I even fish in the area off the end of the jetty on my kayak since I am familiar with the tactics which work there. Last time I went out on my kayak I started at the end of the jetty. Hooked this little guy there and it took me for a ride all the way to the kelp beds.

When I fish there I expect batrays. I usually put on heads or chunks of mac. If I am catching live macs and get a smaller one I will put it on the line. Usually end up with leopard sharks with the live ones. One day on my Kayak I caught one batray on mac chunks, one leopard shark on a live lizard fish, and another leopard shark on a live mac. My thinking is "Big bait, Big fish."
My answer to Aaron&Julie concerning the cable leader, I thought the same thing about fish not taking the bait because of the cable. I usually put out one pole with a cable and one with a braid leader. So far I have only gotten fish to pick up the cable when both are out. The yellow tale picked it up and pulled it until just after I picked up my pole out of the pole holder, then it dropped it. I waited a few seconds and it picked it up again and I let it run for a couple seconds and then started putting pressure on it and the game was on. I love circle hooks. I get corner of the mouth solid hooksets almost every time. The yellowtail was no exception. (You can see it in the picture above of the batray.)

[surfisher]

That is awesome stuff! I have seen yellows caught off of mission bay jetty before as well. One was caught there like 3 weeks ago I think, solid 25lb fish too. Epic story and you have a photo to prove it!

[cell128]

Last year Jesse screamed like a little girl when a big fish swam by him then he said it was a yellowtail... We were fishing for rockfish. They're there but rare

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[octico]

Originally Posted by cell128

Last year Jesse screamed like a little girl when a big fish swam by him then he said it was a yellowtail... We were fishing for rockfish. They're there but rare

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Jesse is not so much a little girl (most of the time) I have seen big humps on my sonar out at NPH.

Jamie were you with us when the Mola mola breached in front of Kevin ... that was crazy.


--John

[cell128]

Originally Posted by octico

Jesse is not so much a little girl (most of the time) I have seen big humps on my sonar out at NPH.

Jamie were you with us when the Mola mola breached in front of Kevin ... that was crazy.


--John

Yeah I was there that day that was crazy.. that's when I hooked up to something huge dragging a Mack at the bottom that broke me off after a while

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[newportdogs]

Aug 2015, Newport outside the harbor to the CDM side. Throwing irons, I caught the one you see, released to swim another day, the other pic my son lost at the boat. Both on the same day. They are out there.

[Dark_Knight_9C1]

Great pictures of the yellowtail from the kayak. Thanks for posting it.
Now I definitely need to get out on my kayak more often.